"I can understand perfectly how the report of my illness got about, I have even heard on good authority that I was dead [but] the report of my death was an exaggeration." -- Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Similarly to Mark Twain, who was erroneously reported deceased in 1897 -- but actually survived for 13 more years -- rumors of the demise of Boeing's (NYSE: BA) F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet have swirled for nearly a decade. In 2014, for example, Boeing spokeswoman Karen Fincutter famously warned investors that "current orders maintain F/A-18 production through [only] 2016," but after that, the fate of the airplane was somewhat uncertain.

Nine years later, the F-18 is still alive and kicking. But its days do appear to be numbered.

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Source Fool.com